Tile-Making History

Iznik was one of the biggest centers of Tile-Making in Ottoman period. It is possible to see oldest tiles in Iznik Green Mosque's Minaret which was built in 1391. Tile-Making started in Iznik in early period of 15th century and grew very fast in the city. Owing to this reason Iznik is called Cinili(tile) Iznik. In 17th Century Evliya Celebi (One of the famous Turkish traveler) mentioned that in his notes, in nine districts of the city people are living with the money that they are earning from making tiles and pots, and there are more than 340 tile ovens in the city. In Ottoman period tiles which are used for inner architecture of buildings were in 9,5 in x 9,5 in dimensions and 0,5-1 in thick. In tile-making Selcuklu (An old Turkish government) style were used with small changes in Ottoman Period. Iznik cini and ceramic art gained importance mostly in 16th century. The reason of this event is related with increase on building construction in same century. In tiles which are produced in first half of 16th century the background was white, flowers and rumis (a collage which is composed by leaves) were in blue and yellow. After the second half of 16th century it is significant to see an improvement on colors and the quality of tiles and tile-designs. Rose, dianthus, tulip, peony, hyacinth, pomegranate flower, plum flower and some other flower types had begun to be processed on tiles with a very detailed work after this period. Coral Red color which appears on tiles after 1557 gives more beauty to the tiles. This color can be seen as an embossed layer on tiles. Coral and Tomato Red disappear suddenly with 17th century. There is not an obvious reason on that but who knows may be the expert of this color took the secret of this color to his grave. Golden Way in Harem in Topkapi Sarayi, Suleymaniye Mosque’s Niche, Rustem Pascha Mosque and Tomb and Sokullu Mehmet Pascha Mosque are some examples for usage of Iznik Tiles in 16th century. In this century tulip is the most used flower in tiles.

In the first quarter of 17th century there can be seen a standstill in Iznik Tile Art. Figures began to dissolve, colors began to mix each other. Colar Red disappears which is used for tulip and dianthus flowers in late period of 16th century. A colorless red comes instead of Coral Red. In tiles of this century background becomes white, greens turn into blues, turquoise blue turns into green. The trees and flowers are shown as they grow up from ground in 16th century tiles however in 17th century tiles they are shown as they are growing from pots. 17th century is not a good century for tile-making but there are some specific building which have wonderful tile arts. Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Revan and Baghdat Mansions and the Sunnet Room in Topkapi Sarayi can be given as an instance for these buildings. This decline in Iznik Tile Making is probably related with the decline of Ottoman Empire. Owing to the wars, inner and outer problems, society couldn’t give the needed importance on art. It is not possible to see the 16th centuries art activity in 17th century. Architecture began to decrease because of financial problems and as a result tile-making comes near the stop. Tile Factories began to close one by one because of financial problems. It can be said that tile-making totally stopped in 1716. In III. Ahmed Library which was built in 1719 the tiles were unraveled from Kara Mustafa Pascha Mansion in Istanbul. In 18th Century vizier of III. Ahmed, Nevsehirli Damat Ibrahim Pascha collected Tile Experts from Iznik and opened a new tile factory in Tekfur Palace in Istanbul. But they couldn’t produce qualified tiles as produced in last centuries. In these tiles background is in dirty light blue, motifs are in green-blue, colorless red and yellow and glazes are distorted. After a little time this factory stopped and Ottoman Empire began to import tiles from Viennese and Italy.

When we look today, there are some researches on Iznik Tiles in last years. In some archological diggings some ovens are found in Iznik City. Biggest problem in these researches is financial problem. Another problem in tile producing in Iznik is, producers are not using the exact way of Iznik tile-producing. They are using the Kutahya City methods when producing tiles. It would be better to solve these problems and to keep alive real Iznik Tiles.